Why do I Keep Transmigrating Into an Extra?!

3.16| The Timid Princess Xing Ruo

The last celebratory party quickly arrived. The Emperor of Xing sat still at the highest step on the throne. His haggard appearance from a few hours ago were now donned in make up, a standard smile was forced onto his lips.

Probably because it was the last day, more people were allowed into the palace. The large hall was filled with a raucous atmosphere. Groups of officials and civil administrators of the dynasty sat at each side of the room, providing space for the dancers and entertainers to present their performance in the center.

Just like the rest of the officials, Fu Lin and Xing Hui sat at the side of the hall. They sat side by side, only separated by a small space in between.

"Hey, I guess the rumours were true." A whisper from a nearby official was heard. He was one of the new members of the state bureaucracy. Fu Lin recognized him as he received excellent marks after he underwent the Chinese Imperial Examinations 2 years ago (1).

"Which rumour?" The person sitting beside him spoke this time. He looked so much older, and probably had a higher status than the young man.

"The one that says that the Emperor was sick."

The older official raised one of his eyebrows, his eyes lightly glanced at the old Emperor sitting high above. A puzzled expression appeared on his face, "His majesty looks fine though..?"

"But did you not notice that today he wore an unusually high amount of powder on his face?" The young official suggested, "His majesty definitely was trying to hide his sickly appearance!"

"Hush! Don't try to guess His majesty's mind!" The older official knew that doing so will result in decapitation. Every ruler hated his thoughts known to other people as it means that he was easily conspired against. And the only solution to that problem was to execute them instantly.

The young official wilted immediately upon hearing his senior's rebuke. But soon perk up after hearing the older man's continued sentence.

"But I have a feeling," The older official showed a grim expression, "Whatever His Majesty's condition is this year, he should quickly appoint the next ruler. Because that is what he promised to the previous Emperor."

Not a lot of people knew about the promise the Emperor made from the last generation. It was 15 years ago when the previous Emperor called the current Emperor into his private chamber on the day of his death. The current Emperor at that time was definitely younger than he was now, and he was definitely more frivolous and more undisciplined. But the previous Emperor didn't have many choices to appoint someone to become the next ruler.

Only this child was left.

Both his first son and second son conspired against each other, and both died from the other's conspiracy. The third son went to the temple to become a monk. The fourth son died before he was 15 due to an accident. The fifth son died prematurely. The seventh son died due to a scheme of his concubine. The eighth son died on the battlefield at the age of 21. Only the sixth son, who was the current Emperor, was left.

He was in fact the most useless out of all of the princes. He loves going to brothels, spending most of his days wasted and surrounded by beauties. He never touched any scholar books, or even tried to read/ understand them. He didn't know politics nor matters regarding war. He was useless thoroughly.

So the previous Emperor never regarded him as one of the choices for the Crown Prince position. And maybe because of that, everyone overlooked him, and never conspired against him. Everyone thought that he would never be chosen, and so they conspired against the rest of the princes. As a result, every prince died except him.